


The Sheriff's Secret

by mikkimouse



Category: Mortal Kombat (1995), Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Father/Son Heart-to-Hearts, Gen, Humor, POV Sheriff Stilinski, Revelations about Mama Stilinski, Sheriff Stilinski's Past
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-05
Updated: 2013-10-05
Packaged: 2017-12-28 11:05:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/991291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikkimouse/pseuds/mikkimouse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles finds a box of his dad's old stuff in the attic, and Sheriff Stilinski has some explaining to do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Sheriff's Secret

**Author's Note:**

> Written (and published) at the request of J and [Eris](http://erisoreilly.com). 
> 
> Inspired by the fact that my inner 11-year-old squealed like an incoherent banshee when I found out Johnny Cage and Sheriff Stilinski were played by the same person.

"Dad, we need to talk." 

John jumped half a mile in the air and dropped his illicit cheeseburger onto the counter. Dammit, Stiles was supposed to be getting the Christmas decorations down from the attic, a process that should have taken at _least_ an hour. John thought he'd have fifteen minutes to enjoy his burger in peace. 

But no, his son's unerring nose for fast food was proving him wrong. 

John gave a forlorn sigh. "Would you believe it's a veggie burger?" 

"I—what? Dad, that's not what I—wait, did you get In-n-Out on the way home?" Stiles's voice took on an irritable tone. "You know you're not supposed to—"

Well, it was worth a shot. John pushed the burger away and turned to face the music. "All right, all right, I'm putting it away. I pro—"

He cut himself off when he saw Stiles standing in the doorway to the kitchen, attic dust smeared over his face, holding an ancient cardboard box John hadn't seen in more than ten years. Despite the faded writing on the side, he recognized it instantly. 

_Ah, crap._

John settled at the kitchen table. "I'm guessing the burger wasn't what you wanted to talk about."

Stiles dropped the box to the floor and himself into another chair, his eyes guarded and wary. "Were you married before Mom?" 

John blinked. Of all the questions, he sure as hell hadn't been expecting that one. "What? No. Where in the world would you get an idea like that?" 

Stiles didn't quite glare at him, but it was a close thing. He bent over and started yanking things out of the box, fistfuls of letters John had damn near forgotten about. "Because there are all these letters addressed to John and _Sonya_ Stilinski." He slammed the first bunch on the kitchen table hard enough that John winced. "And there're pictures in here of you with a blonde I've never seen in my life, like wedding pictures, or at least pictures of you at somebody's wedding, and they're all dated around the time you and Mom would've met. And then there's all these postcards from Hong Kong and I didn't even know you knew anybody from Hong Kong—"

All right, this was getting out of hand way faster than John had anticipated. He jumped up and walked around the table to crouch next to his son. "Stiles. Stiles. Look at me. I was not married before your mom. I promise." 

"Then what _is_ all this?" Stiles demanded, and John didn't miss the note of betrayal in his voice. "What are you hiding from me? You promised...we promised..."

John stood up and raked a hand through his hair. After everything with the werewolves and darachs and human sacrifices and finding out Stiles had been lying to him about a _litany_ of death-defying adventures for the better part of the past year, John had sat Stiles down and made him swear over curly fries and his Jeep never to lie about stuff like that again. John had made the same promise in return. 

Of course, at the time, he'd completely forgotten about this.

"Look, Stiles..." John trailed off, not entirely sure how to broach the subject. "There's some stuff about my and your mom's pasts that...well, that we agreed to put behind us for good once we got to Beacon Hills."

"Like this Sonya person?" Stiles said accusingly.

John rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "Sonya _is_ your mom. She changed her name to Claudia when we got married."

Now it was Stiles's turn to blink in surprise. "What? Why did Mom change her name? Was she on the run? Were _you_ on the run? Were you guys wanted by the mob? The FBI?" His eyes lit up. "Oh my God, Dad, were you an _undercover agent_? Are you hiding from the government?"

John rubbed the bridge of his nose and wondered why he'd ever, in any of the times he'd imagined this conversation with Stiles, thought it would go any kind of smoothly. "You're watching way too many spy movies."

" _Dad_." 

John held up a hand and crouched next to the box again, shoving aside more letters and post cards and picture frames and a rough brown robe he was _really_ glad Stiles hadn't asked about yet. He found the VHS tapes hidden at the bottom of the box; clearly Stiles had gotten sidetracked after finding the letters addressed to Sonya. 

He pulled the tapes out and set them on the table in front of Stiles. And waited. 

Stiles furrowed his brow. " _Dragon Fist_? _Dragon Fist 2_? What are these?" He peered closer at the VHS covers, and John saw the moment it clicked. "Wait...Dad... is that _you_?" Stiles snapped his face up to gape at John. "Holy shit, are you _Johnny Cage_?"

"Language," John said mildly.

He didn't think Stiles actually heard him. "Oh my God, you're Johnny Cage. You're a martial arts movie star. You're a freaking _video game character_! "

John pressed a knuckle into his temple. "Stiles."

"Oh...oh my God. Dad. Was Mom Sonya _Blade_?" Stiles dove back into the pile of letters and pictures he'd thrown on the table. "She _was_ , wasn't she? Holy crap! Oh my God, her hair was really _blonde_?" 

" _Stiles_."

"Does that mean Mortal Kombat was actually a thing? Like a thing that really happened? It's not just a game? Oh my God, the letters from Hong Kong—" 

"Stiles!" John finally shouted. 

That got him to shut up. Stiles's eyes were so wide they looked like they were about to pop out of his head, and he was practically vibrating with excitement. 

John sighed and tapped the VHS tapes. "The word you're looking for is ' _was_.' I _was_ in movies before you were born, your mom _was_ Army Special Forces, and we _were_ invited to participate in an...interdimensional martial arts tournament." The phrase still sounded crazy in his head, but considering everything that had happened over the past few months, he figured Stiles would go with it. 

"But you said you and Mom met on a cruise!" 

John shifted uncomfortably at the accusing tone. "We did, technically. We met on the boat that took us to...the Mortal Kombat tournament." 

He trailed off and said the last few words as quietly as he could, but it didn't stop Stiles's triumphant shout. He _launched_ himself out of his chair and danced around the kitchen, cackling the entire time. 

Good God, John hadn't seen him this excited since they bought the Jeep.

"Oh my _God_ , it was real! Was the split punch actually a thing? Can you still do it? Did you fight Scorpion? Or Sub-Zero? Were—"

"Stiles, for God's sake, sit _down_ ," John said, and waited until he had before continuing. "That was _years_ ago. After everything that happened with the tournament, your mom and I decided we didn't want any part of that life anymore. It was...an experience. One neither of us wanted to repeat, and one we _especially_ didn't want any of our kids having any part in." 

The light of excitement in Stiles's eyes dimmed a little, and for once he didn't seem to know what to say.

John decided to take advantage of the silence while it lasted. "We both wanted a family, so when we got back to the States, we changed our names, got married, and moved to Beacon Hills. You know the rest." He shrugged a shoulder. "I'm sorry we never told you, but...it was a decision we made together before you were born. We just wanted to keep you safe. You understand that, right?" 

Stiles let out a slow exhale and nodded. "Yeah. I get that." 

John suppressed a wry smile. He'd figured that would be the case. "And now, you get three questions about it, and then we're putting the box away and you are never telling _anyone_ about it, do you understand?" 

Stiles gave him a look like John had cancelled Christmas. "Only _three_? And I can't tell _anybody_?" 

John nodded. For now, at least. He imagined they'd talk about it more, later, maybe, when Stiles was older, or when John could look at the letters in the box and not feel his chest tighten with dread. And the thought of dealing with the myriad questions from Stiles's friends was almost enough to give him a panic attack. 

Stiles must have seen something in the look on his face, because his dismay faded into something closer to understanding. "Okay. Can I at least tell Scott?" 

John considered. "You can tell Scott when I tell Melissa."

That answer sent Stiles's eyebrows flying up his forehead, and John had a sinking feeling they'd be revisiting that comment later. 

"That was question one," John added hastily, to get Stiles back on track.

The reminder worked, and Stiles stared at the table, opening and closing his mouth a few times. "Do you miss it?" he finally asked, gesturing at the letters and tapes and pictures strewn across the table. "I mean, not necessarily the whole tournament-to-the-death thing, but the movies and stuff. That part of your life?" 

John half-smiled and shook his head. "Not as much as I thought I would. It was fun, but...shallow. And frankly, you couldn't pay me to go back. One more question." 

Stiles looked like he might jump out of his skin with anticipation. "Did you ever split punch anybody?" he blurted out. 

John chuckled and started packing up the box. Really, he should've been expecting that one. 

"Dad. _Dad_. Come on, you promised," Stiles pleaded. "Inquiring minds want to know."

John shoved the flaps back down, hefted the box, and started out of the kitchen. "Come on, let's go put this away." 

"Da- _ad_." Stiles didn't move from the table. "You said three questions!" 

John waited until he was halfway down the hall before he called back an answer. "I split punched Goro." 

Stiles's shout of delight followed him all the way up to the attic.

**Author's Note:**

> My first fanfic in 7 years and the first one ever to be published.
> 
> **ETA 1/4/14:** Oh hey, I'm [on Tumblr now!](http://mad-madam-m.tumblr.com/) Come say hi!


End file.
